


A Year and One Day

by kribban



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Community: spnspringfling, F/M, Fluff, Handfasting, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 23:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6398098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kribban/pseuds/kribban
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dean and Donna are forced to be joined in a handfasting ceremony, it gives them the chance of getting to know each other better. Written for the 2016 spnspringfling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Year and One Day

”Alright, alright, we'll do it!” 

Donna can barely hear over the thunder that the recently deceased pagan priestess is generating, but she shouts yes and lets Sam wrap a piece of string around her and Dean's clasped hands. When the spirit is pleased that a suitable male and female have agreed to play the part of the God and Goddess for another season, the wind storm dies down and the lights come back on in every house on the block.

”So what does this mean exactly?” she asks once the concussed landlord has been dropped off at the hospital. She knows it's a bit late to ask that now, but she figures making rash decisions is a big part of the hunter life.

”Yeah, Sam, tell us what it means.” Dean looks annoyed. It's not a look she would have wanted to see on her groom on their wedding day.

Sam looks infuriatingly calm. ”Well, handfasting was a precursor to wedding ceremonies, but it's not necessarily a lifelong commitment. It means the male and female have to be together for one year and one day.” 

”So the Sheriff and I have to live together? For a whole year?” 

Sam turns a page in his book. ”There's nothing here that says you have to live together. Or be physically intimate in any way.” He gives her a compassionate and reassuring look, like having sex with Dean is some kind of horrible fate. 

”So what, we just pretend?”

”It says you have to honor each other and your bond. I think you just have to keep in touch and refer to each other as bondmates. Maybe see each other a couple of times.”

Dean looks at her in the car mirror. ”Sure, we can do that, can't we Sheriff? I mean, my darling wife.”

Donna smiles brightly. As far as consequences of rash decisions go, this one seems fairly small.

”Sure can do, dear husband!” 

 

Having a fake husband doesn't affect her life much. She gets a text from Dean every other day or so and she answers with pictures of her workday. Coffee mug, donuts, the dashboard of her patrol car, more donuts and so on, but always with the caption ”Thinking about you, dear husband”. 

They talk on the phone too, mostly shop, and it's making her itch to go on another hunt. She reads every new case file thoroughly and Dean is more than happy to give her advice on what to look for. That's how she discovers that a local elementary school is haunted by a former teacher. She still has grave dirt on her jeans when she calls Dean. 

”That's my girl. Knew I married the right woman!”

”I'm just glad that poor woman can rest in peace now.” 

”Always so compassionate. That's why we love you, Donna.”

She's glad he can't see her blush over the phone.

 

She has a few days off after New Year's Eve and she texts Dean to let him know she'll be heading his way soon. She doesn't know exactly where that is, but he's let it slip that he and Sam live a couple hours drive from Salina, Kansas. 

Dean texts back. _Always happy 2 meet the missus. ;)_

She sits in the sun with her cup of spicy coffee and the latest Dennis Lehane when her husband arrives. He's pale and unshaven, but he looks clean and has no visible cuts or bruises. His arms feel strong around her and she takes a good sniff.

”You smell like something that comes out of a spray can.”

He winks at her and it makes him look a little tired. ”Does it affect you? 'Cuz otherwise that ad was lying.” 

 

They end up in a combined bowling alley/steak house. She was in a bowling league in high school and still kicks her co-workers' butts whenever they go out. Dean's good, but he's nowhere near her league. When she strikes out he's got an impressed look on his face.

”Ready for a rematch?” She chirps cheerfully. Some fellas don't take too easily to being beaten by a woman. 

”Nah, let's eat. I'm starving.” 

The steak is good, the mud cake is better, and a few hours later she's got that tryptophan coma working. 

Dean seems equally mellow, and they walk in comfortable silence back to where their cars are parked. She grabs his wrist as he pulls out his set of keys. 

”Hey, no DUI on my watch, husband.”

Dean looks bewildered. ”I barely drank anything!”

She gives him her most stern law enforcement look. ”Really? Would you care to prove that with a breathalyzer test?”

She can see the moment he surrenders. ”Okay, I'll sleep in the car.”

”Don't talk nonsense. I've got a room.” She puts up her palms. ”No funny business. It's a king size bed. You sleep on top of the covers, I sleep under the covers, and never the two shall meet.”

 

The room is small but nice, and the bed is exactly as soft and comfy as it looks. Dean takes off his shoes and jacket; Donna strips down to her panties and t-shirt and crawls in. She worries that she'll roll over and cuddle him in her sleep. He just looks so... snuggable. Like a waxed and muscular teddy bear. She sticks both arms under the cover just to be on the safe side.

When she wakes up he is gone. There's a note on the nightstand. 

_Thanks for the great night, wifey. I'll tell Sam you were fun to sleep with._

 

4th of July has been a relaxed affair ever since Doug left. Every year she hosts a small barbecue in her backyard for anyone who's not on duty or invited elsewhere. She texts Dean to tell him he and Sam are both invited if they're available, but she doesn't hear back until he calls her and tells her that brother-in-law can't make it, but he's on his way.

The early summer is in full swing so it's 90 degrees and sunny. She refuses to wear a sundress in front of half the force, so she wears a respectable blouse and light pants. Everyone's got a beer in hand by the time Dean shows up.

She jogs up towards him and gives him a hug. ”Happy Independence Day, wifey,” he says quietly so that no one else can hear. Good, because that's not a conversation she'd be willing to have with her co-workers. ”Same to you, _husband_. Let me get you a beer.”

She introduces him as her friend Dean from the health club and lets the conversations flow naturally from there. Dean is actually pretty sociable when he wants to be and Donna spends an evening watching her friends happy and at ease. After the embers have cooled and the firework show is over, the guests drop out one by one. Finally, it's just the two of them. 

Dean helps her put away the leftovers and load the dishwasher. She's made up the guest bedroom, and she's going to tell him any minute now.

She puts the last container away. He puts a hand on her elbow. ”You're really cute in that outfit.”

”Thanks,” she blushes. ”I-”

”You wanna have sex now?”

Donna's mouth literally falls open. 

Dean draws his hand back. He looks a little hesitant. ”That's what you wanted me here for, right?” 

”I wanted to see you. And to honor our bond. But yes. Also that.” Donna takes a steadying breath, ”I mean, if you're up for-”

Dean pulls her to him. His hands cup her face while he kisses her gently. She stands on her toes and touches his arms and lets herself be swept away. 

Sex with Dean is everything she had imagined. He asks her what she's into, she answers and he gives it to her. 

Afterward, they talk for a really long time. Donna's lying on her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows. Her hair is tickling her breasts and she feels sexy and confident. Stupid oxytocin. 

”You sure are a catch, husband.”

Dean's smile is a little sad, which it has no business being after what she just did for him. ”There are a lot of women out there who'd fight you on that.”

She lets out a giggle. ”If you treat every woman like this, I very much doubt that.”

His head is propped up on three of her pillows and he shifts a little to make himself comfortable. ”It's usually what comes after this they got a problem with.” 

She traces his forearm gently. ”Maybe you haven't found the right woman yet?” Donna realizes how that sounds and gives him her widest smile. 

”Don't worry, I'm not gonna try to shackle you. I know you don't belong to me, and this doesn't change that.” 

Dean's eyes bored into her. ”It's not... Look, this life... I can't have that. Ever. I tried, I really did. But if I could, it wouldn't ever be a shackle.” 

 

Donna's life goes on as usual. She catches rapists and home invaders and keeps an eye out for anything supernatural. Sam calls her one night to tell her he's been in touch with a congregation of pagans who have ensured him there will be handfastings every year in that building from now on.

He thanks her once again for the help, and she has to bite the inside of her cheek from laughing.

When the date comes up, she cooks a nice dinner and opens a bottle of wine. At the stroke of midnight, she toasts to her newfound freedom. The life of an ex-wife. She's used to it.

That night she dreams of bowling. In the morning, she puts on coffee and checks her text messages. There's one from Dean. _Just got back on the market. U available? ;-)_


End file.
